Palo Alto Attitude
by TwirlsWrites
Summary: Sam's new roommate is kind of strange. Is everyone's college experience like this? "Sam Winchester, I'm gonna teach you how to live!" Gabriel enthused. One-Shot. Sabriel Week Day 3 post


Gabriel normally tried to keep his long-term tricks to smaller schools when he was in a "screw with an entire university" sort of mood, but he was really feeling like messing with some entitled pricks - meaning California, naturally. Specifically Stanford.

It took him a matter of seconds to pop in and assess campus. He was all set to slip in as his standard janitor persona, until he (cloaked, of course) popped into the auditorium where they were doing a freshman seminar to welcome the new students to campus.

He was struck immediately by an intense feeling of _importance_. The italisized kind of importance he had done his best to avoid since, for all intents and purposes, running away from home. He honed in on the source - it was a student sitting in the back, all limbs and slightly hunched over. He was paying attention to the person talking at the front - the President or something, Gabriel neither knew nor cared - but his eyes would dart to glance at the door really quickly. That was worth noting, really, as was the fact that his seat was at the back with a perfect view of the front and of three of the main four doors.

Most notable, however, was the kid's blazing soul. Discomfort was leaking off of him like a cloud of smoke, but the soul underneath was bright and burning with strength. The thing that caught Gabriel's attention, however, was the fact that he was tainted - tainted all over.

_Demon Blood_ his mind supplied, Gabriel felt cold suddenly. He had heard rumors of some sort of plot going on, but…

But that wasn't his problem anymore.

Almost unbidden, Gabriel sent a trace of his grace out at the teen, just to have a quick look at his mind.

He was barely even surprised when there was resistance. Not a lot really, not to Gabriel, but surprising. Gabriel had to slide past some natural barriers, and even then he only got some vauge information: A hunter, a dad, a beloved brother, fire, fighting, yellow eyes. Yellow eyes.

Gabriel pursed his lips and instantly made a decision. With a silent snap - it was more for show, anyway, even when there was no one to hear or see it - he changed things up. He grabbed the kid - Sam Winchester's - roommate in the system and moved him, changed things so Sam would think his roommate was a Gabe… Novak, that sounded good, and morphed his vessel down a decade or two. Then he popped out the doors, walked in looking rushed, and slid into the seat next to Sam's.

"Did I miss anything?" he whispered. Sam looked startled to be addressed, and glanced around as though a teacher might start scolding him.

"The president was giving a speech on - "

"Anything interesting?" Gabriel cut in with a smirk. Sam looked caught off-guard and Gabriel suppressed a chuckle for now, the kid had very little interaction with his peers.

"Uh…"

"Gabe, Gabe Novak," Gabriel introduced himself.

"Sam," Sam replied. "Winchester."

"Like the rifle?" Sam gave a strange sort of smile.

"No."

Interesting.

The ceremony was over pretty quickly after that and the students were dismissed to their dorms. Gabriel had fun trailing after Sam, clearly making him uncomfortable, all the way back to the room where he manifested a copy of the key and an id card like Sam's in his pocket.

"I thought your name was familiar," Sam muttered. "Were you not able to move-in yesterday or something?" Gabriel shrugged, snapping his fingers at his side to decorate 'his side of the room'.

"I'm always running a bit late," he said with a shrug. Sam opened the door, and then flinched.

Gabriel had had a bit of fun with it. His bed was given a very bright orange comforter, with pillows in lime green, turquoise, and yellow. His wall was plastered with random colored post-it notes in a pattern that - from far away - looked like the earth, if the earth was yellow and pink rather than blue and green. His two shelves were filled with random books and his desk had a rather large candy bowl perched on the corner.

"Uhm. Wow," Sam was fumbling for words. "You like bright colors, huh?"

"Yup!" Gabriel chirped. He glanced over at Sam's side of the room.

It was pretty bare. His bedsheets and blanket were faintly worn, plain white with thick maroon stripes that just rubbed him the wrong way, with a single pillow. His shelves had his class textbooks and a few worn novels. His desk had two pictures on it. One a young couple, Gabriel got the impression that they had to be Sam's parents, and a picture of two young boys smiling at the camera with a few clunky looking car skeletons behind them.

"Your family?" he asked, tilting his head slightly as he surveyed the pictures. Sam nodded, looking uncomfortable again.

"Yeah. That's my Mom and Dad when they were young," he said. There was a flash of emotion in those words, and Gabriel silently confirmed his original assumption of his mother's death. "And that's me and my brother Dean." Sam's soul glowed lightly at this, and Gabriel nodded.

"Cool. He the big one covered in freckles?"

"Yep." Sam trailed off, "What's your family like?"

"Oh, you know," Gabriel said with a shrug. "Got a father who took off a few years back, three older brothers who are total dicks and a frickton of younger relatives I don't talk to. Don't talk to any of them, really. We're not a very close family." Sam let out a long laugh. Gabriel made sure to eye him with the same confusion a normal human would in this situation.

"Sorry, I don't mean to laugh at you," Sam clarified. Gabriel found himself inexplicably distracted by the teen's dimples. "It's just… I sort of have a similar family life. It's me, my Dad, and my brother. My brother and I, we're pretty close, but my Dad and I are… volatile when left together. I had to officially leave home in order to come here," his eyes looked sad for a moment.

"Where's home?" Gabriel asked. A flash of memory broke through Sam's barriers and Gabriel got the impression of the interior of a classic car, and a hug from a brother who seemed more like a father.

"Pretty much all over," Sam answered. "Originally from Kansas, I guess. You?"

"Here and there," Gabriel said with a shrug. "We're quite a pair, roomie."

"I guess so," Sam said with a small smile.

"Sam Winchester, I'm gonna teach you how to live!" Gabriel enthused.

* * *

><p>AN: I think it's safe to consider this one a one-shot for now. I may write a sequel for it, but I like how it is right now.  
>Happy Sabriel Week Day 3!<p> 


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